Page 14 - August 2015 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SBarona Resort & Casino Guests Win Big!
outhern California casino players love Barona Resort & Casino’s TGI Thursdayspromotions.Recently,theyhaveincludedTGIThursdaysBarona Lottery in April and May, and TGI Thursdays Cadillac Edition in June.
Kikeo S. from San Diego won a new car playing TGI ursdays Cadillac Edition. He selected the cash option of $87,000!
To win TGI ursdays Cadillac Edition, Club Barona members quali ed by earning 500 points on the giveaway day. Every ursday, beginning at midnight, one winner was drawn every 30 minutes using the Power Winners system and each winner received $500 cash and a key. At midnight, all key winners from the promotion date were invited to the stage to see if their key was the winning key.
is month, don’t miss TGI Thursdays Rolling Riches, where members can participate in hourly progressive drawings at the top of each hour from noon to midnight. e progressive prize starts at $5,000, and you must be present to win. See page 26 for more information and Club Barona for all details.
Gas Prices Up —Take the Shuttle Bus to the Casino!
as prices reached as high as $5 a gallon in Southern California as of press time, and experts were predicting more increases before the prices go down. It’s all due to a shortage of re ned petroleum, according to the
Automobile Club of Southern California.
A re nery in Carson reduced its re ning capacity to perform maintenance. And a major supplier scaled back
operations at its Torrance facility after an explosion in February damaged an air pollution monitoring unit.
So where does that leave casino players who may want to go to a casino not so close to home? Take the shuttle bus to the casino! ere are lots to choose. Check out the Shuttle Bus Schedules for featured casinos starting on
page 6.
Each casino has a di erent shuttle bus program so check with the casino destination of your choice.
WIill We Have Online Poker in California Soon?
t’s been a long time coming — legalizing online Poker in California. ere are the naysayers that claim it won’t happen in 2015, and then there are the optimists.“We are very close to getting this done in California,” John Pappas, executive director of the national Poker Players Alliance, told the website
resource ALL IN on July 3rd.“We need a few breaks in the coming weeks, and we will continue to push.”
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
AUGUST 2015
For the past three years, Pappas and poker players have fought to make online Poker a reality in California. Bills have been drafted and went nowhere in each of the last two legislative sessions.
When the California legislature reconvenes on August 17th, after a month-long recess, Pappas hopes that California online Poker will be a done deal. Delaware was the rst to legalize online poker in October of 2013, followed by Nevada and New Jersey a month later. California would
be the fourth state to legalize the game.
“ e stakeholders in California were too fractured for it to be realistic before,” Pappas said of why the prior bills failed before picking up steam this year. “While there is still considerable tension between the varying interests, they have all agreed that regulation of iPoker is a good thing. Now they are just
ghting over who gets what.”
California, with its population near 34 million, 21 million more than Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware put together, stands to prosper.
ALL IN commissioned a recent survey of 1,500 California residents across the state, about their feelings on the issue. e survey was conducted by the National Research Institute and Survata Inc. between the dates of May 21st and May 28th, 2015, polling registered California voters aged 21 and above.
Among the results were: 66% wanted California to pass online Poker and create signi cant tax revenue for the state; 51% said they would consider playing poker online in California if it was licensed and regulated by the state; and 71% said they would feel safe playing on a licensed and regulated poker site backed by the state.
“Topping Out” of Hollywood JCasino Jamul-San Diego
amul Indian Village of California and Penn National Gaming celebrated the “Topping Out” of the planned $360 million Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego in a
private ceremony at the end of June.
“Topping Out” is one of the construction industry’s oldest
customs. A black oak tree was placed on the last beam tted into the exterior of a building, celebrating the completion of the structural components and marking the halfway point in the construction of a facility.
Construction of Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego includes an eight-story parking garage being built below ground, while the casino is being constructed concurrently and is supported by steel structure. When complete, the exterior of the facility will feature an earth tone color palette and downcast lighting to integrate with and complement the surrounding area.
Expected to open in mid-2016, Hollywood Casino Jamul- San Diego is located approximately 20 miles east of downtown San Diego o State Route 94. e facility will feature approximately 1,700 slot machines and 43 live table games along with multiple dining and entertainment options.
August 2015 Gaming News (Continued)